Chained
by Kureru Elric
Summary: Dedicated to Toxic Hathor! Kaiba intends to find out what's wrong with Yami, who's been acting like the walking dead recently. With the help of some of his friends, Kaiba learns more than he ever wanted. Does Yami want his help though?
1. Chapter 1

**Me: New FanFiction time!**

**Yami: It's a Yu-Gi-Oh! one this time.**

**Seto: That and it's a prideshipping.**

**Yami: So just a fact, this story was originally written in the back of one of Kureru's school notebooks. Chapter 1 here alone took up 14 pages. Yeah… a lot happens in this chapter. A hell of a lot. **

**Me: I kinda realized after I finished Chapter 1 that I rushed this. Oh well! Oh, and there is an OC who is mine, and some characters from GX and 5D's will make an appearance. Yusei is a main character.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, YGO GX, YGO 5D's, or the songs**

**CLAIMER: I DO own the plot and my OC.**

**WARNINGS: Semi-graphic situations, one of the characters being sick, violence, and yaoi.**

**DEDICATION: To Toxic Hathor, who is undoubtedly one of the best writers I've ever seen.**

* * *

**Chained Chapter 1**

* * *

Tuesday morning at the High School was boring Seto Kaiba to death. Nothing new was happening, just another boring Math class **(1)**. Kaiba had nothing to keep him interested. People-Watching seemed to be the only thing to keep him busy.

His eyes fell upon a boy sitting in the back of the room, on the opposite side of himself. He was a small boy with crazy tri-colored hair that stuck up on all sides. His blonde bangs fell in front of his face. Kaiba noticed that the boy was pale and thin.

His name was Yami Mouto. He had been Kaiba's rival in middle school. Now though, it seemed that Yami wasn't interested in him anymore. He didn't like to pay attention in any of his classes, but somehow managed to get straight A's. Today, though, he was taking diligent notes.

Kaiba could tell something wasn't right with the boy. He was 17 years old and was incredibly thin. He was sensitive to touches and the one time anyone dared to hit him he had a bruise on his shoulder for weeks. Then there was the time he passed out in class. It left his little brother Yugi so worried he had to be removed from the room.

Imagine Kaiba's surprise when Yami looked at him back. A light blush covered his pale cheeks and he quickly looked away. Kaiba smirked, but his cell phone going off interrupted his thoughts, and the teacher.

You see, Kaiba was the CEO of KaibaCorp, a company that produced all the best and newest additions to the Duel Monsters game. That being said, Kaiba didn't really need to go to school. He was already smarter than the average college student. He just went because he could.

Looking at the caller ID, he looked up at the teacher. "May I step out and take this?" he asked.

"Sure." the teacher said. "You'll just have to get the notes from somebody else."

Kaiba nodded and stepped out. What he didn't see was Yami staring at his back as he left.

The bell rang just as his call ended. Kaiba went back inside to grab his bag when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned and, surprisingly, saw Yami there. Kaiba tore himself away from his ruby red eyes to ask, "What is it?"

"The teacher said you should get notes from somebody and she chose me," he said, handing Kaiba his notebook. Kaiba set it on top of his books with a small "thanks".

"By the way, you'll come across drawings in there. Just ignore them alright?"

"Okay," Kaiba said. Yami nodded and left to go home.

Kaiba waited for him to leave before flipping through the notebook. Yami had small, easy-to-read handwriting, and the notes were organized neatly. Curious about the drawings, he paged through the book until he got to the inside-front cover. There were pen drawings of duel monsters inside. Kaiba recognized the Dark Magician, Yami's favorite by the looks of it, and the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Kaiba stared at his favorite monster, wondering why Yami had it drawn in his book.

Curiosity got the better of him again, and so he flipped to the inside black cover. This time, he was greeted by words. He sat back and glanced through them.

'Song lyrics?" **(2)**

_I've got troubled thoughts and the self-esteem to match_

_Keep the blood in your hand and keep your feet on the ground_

_There's nothing more for me, lead me away or leave me lying here_

_Summer has come and past, the innocent can never last, wake me up when September ends_

_When I wanted to cry, I couldn't 'cause I wasn't aloud_

_Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?_

_Well you're building up and breaking down my wall_

_Is there anyone out there, 'cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe_

_Even surrounded by a million people, I still feel alone, and I wanna go home_

_But there's shit that I've done with this fuck of a gun_

_Wouldn't it be great if we were dead?_

_Heaven's gates won't open up for me, with these broken wings, I'm fallin'_

_Can anybody find me somebody to love?_

_This is all I can take; this is how a heart breaks_

_I just came to say goodbye, I didn't want you to see me cry_

'_Cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all_

Kaiba blinked and put the notebook into his bag. Why would Yami keep song lyrics in the back of his notebook? And they were from songs that he knew, and artists that wrote angst-y music. What's up with that?

* * *

"_I'm home."_

"_Where have you been, you dirty bitch?_

_"I-I'm sorry, I was out."_

"_No more excuses, damn brat! Get in there, now!"_

"_No! I promise not to do it again-"_

"_I said shut up and get in there, you slut!"_

"_No! Please!"_

_SLAM_

_"Let me out! No!"_

* * *

Kaiba sat in the classroom, waiting patiently for Yami to come. It was their turn to stay after and clean up. It had been three days since Yami had lent him his notebook, and three days since Kaiba last saw him. He knew something was up, but he refused to talk to him about it. He could've gone to Yami's brother Yugi and ask what was going on, but Yugi insisted that he didn't know anything.

The thought of asking another person that Yami knew entered his mind. Yami was often seen hanging out with the Fudo twins, Yusei and Sayomi. Maybe he could ask them.

He was about to leave to go find them when Yami walked it. Kaiba's eyes widened. Yami, if possible, looked even worse than he did three days ago. He muttered a "hello" and set to work. Kiba joined him.

"Here's your notebook back," Kaiba said when they were finished. He handed the blue spiral notebook back to him.

"You looked through it, didn't you?" Yami asked.

Kaiba reluctantly nodded. Yami sighed. "I knew you would. Curiosity got the better of you?"

"In a way, yes," Kaiba said. "What were the song lyrics about?"

Yami hesitated. "I just… got bored," he said cautiously.

'He's lying.' Kaiba thought, but kept his mouth shut. Yami turned to leave, but remembering Yusei and Sayomi, Kaiba reached out and grabbed his wrist. Yami winced.

Seeing this, Kaiba thought up another question. "Yami, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Yami. "Now let go."

Irritated, Kaiba pulled on his wrist, causing the smaller boy to gasp in both pain and surprise as he was pulled back. Kaiba pulled Yami's sleeve back and almost gasped at what he saw. Yami's arm was covered in bruises and scars.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"I told you, it's nothing!" Yami ripped his arm out of Kaiba's grip. "Please, Kaiba. Don't tell Aibou or anybody about this! Just forget it!"

Kaiba and Yami both knew that Kaiba wasn't going to forget it anytime soon, but Kaiba still said "Alright. If that's what you want, I'll forget."

Yami turned and ran off, leaving Kaiba to find the Fudo twins himself.

* * *

After looking around the entire school, Kaiba found himself in the library. He went up to the media lady and asked, "Excuse me, is Yusei and/or Sayomi Fudo in here today?"

"Why yes. Miss Sayomi is here today. Do you want me to get her for you?"

"That's alright. I'll just go find her." Kaiba walked past her and looked for Sayomi.

He found her in the auto-reference section, with a book on motorcycle parts in front of her. She was taking notes on a small notepad. She looked up when she heard Kaiba approach.

Sayomi Fudo was a pretty girl. She had black hair with yellow highlights, just the same as her brother Yusei, but hers was much longer and she kept it tied behind her head. She had teal colored eyes that attracted a lot of boys, but she easily blew every one of them off. Like her brother, she had a love of motorcycles and other electronic equipment.

"Seto Kaiba," she said. "What brings you to the auto-reference section?"

"I was looking for you actually." he said, sitting down next to her. "What can you tell me about Yami Mouto?"

His question obviously took her off guard. "Yami? There's nothing to tell." But Kaiba knew she was lying.

"Then how do you explain the bruises and scars I saw on his arm earlier?"

Sayomi's eyes widened. "Were they fresh?"

"So you do know something."

"Fine! Tell me what I want to know and I'll explain."

"I guess they were fresh enough for them to hurt pretty bad when touched."

"You grabbed him?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Ugh!" Sayomi growled. "He's already hurting enough. Why'd you have to add more pain?"

"Oh, give me a break. I didn't know. Now tell me about Yami."

Sayomi opened her mouth but shut it again. "If I'm going to tell you, we need Yusei. Otherwise he'll kill me."

"Where is he now?"

"At the shop. I'll give you our phone number. Drop by the shop later."

"Alright, I'll call you later."

"Oh! And one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Can you bring me some fiber-optic cables when you come? I'm working on a project and need more than I have."

"…Sure."

* * *

When Kaiba was walking out to his car, he felt something weird in his stomach. Something bad was happening, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

A weird noise caught his attention. He followed the sound, the feeling in his gut getting worse and worse with each step. When he walked around the corner, the sight he saw almost made him get sick.

Yami sat on the ground, hunched over, holding his stomach as he threw up on the ground. Kaiba rushed over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right Yami?"

"Ugh… K-Kaiba…" Yami moaned. He then proceeded to fall into Kaiba's arms. Kaiba gently picked him up and took the unconscious boy to his car, laying him down in the back seat while ordering the driver to get going.

Thinking quickly, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Sayomi's number. She picked up on the third ring.

"_I wasn't expecting you so soon Kaiba. I haven't even left yet."_

"Listen, I found Yami throwing up outside the building. He's out cold right now. I'm taking him straight to Yusei, alright?"

"_Oh God! Of course, bring him there right now. I'll call Yusei and tell him you're coming."_

"Okay, but Yami might need a doctor."

"_He may not look it, but my brother has had some medical training. If necessary, we'll call his boyfriend Jack and get him over there."_

"I didn't know your brother was gay."

"_Yeah, well keep your mouth shut about it."_

"Fine. I'll see you at the shop."

"_Hurry. And goodbye."_

"Bye." Sayomi hung up after that. Seto set his phone on the seat next to him and went back to watching Yami. His face was twisted in either pain or discomfort and he was sweating. Kaiba took the corner of his jacket and wiped a bit of sweat off of Yami's forehead.

"What's going on with you?" he asked no one.

* * *

Kaiba entered the mechanic shop with Yami in his arms. A bell had rung when he entered, but there was nobody there. Setting Yami on the small couch in the room , Kaiba went up to the desk. There was a sign sitting there that read:

[I'm downstairs! Push the buzzer and I'll be with you in a minute!]

Kaiba pressed the red button next to the sign, held it for a few seconds, then let go. He waited patiently for a minute before he heard a clunking noise. A door opened and Yusei Fudo walked out, rubbing his hands on his jeans.

"Seto Kaiba? What's a hot-shot moneybags like you doing here?"

"I came to drop _him _off," Kaiba said, jerking his head towards Yami, who seemed to be getting worse.

Yusei's eyes widened. "Oh God, Yami!" he yelped. He ran over to where he lay on the couch. "He's burning up! How long has he been like this?"

"I'm not sure. I found him like that outside the school about five minutes ago, but I saw him earlier and he was looking sick then too."

"Damn, he didn't show up at school for three days either. Wait here with him, I'll get some medicine." Yusei ran into the other room.

"You know what's wrong?" Kaiba asked when he came back with a few pills and a glass of water.

"Unfortunately, yes. Hold him up while I try to wake him."

Kaiba nodded and stuck his arms under Yami's back, pushing him into a sitting position. The small boy groaned and gripped Kaiba's shirt lightly.

"Yami," Yusei said softly. "Yami, you need to wake up." He rubbed and shook his shoulder until Yami opened his crimson-colored eyes.

"Yusei…" he said softly, but Yusei interrupted him.

"Shhh, it's okay. Just swallow this for us, okay?" He held the pill out to him. Yami took it and swallowed. His eyes began to drop, and eventually he fell asleep.

Kaiba shifted his arms so Yami was a bit more comfortable. Yusei stared at him intensely. "What?" Kaiba asked.

"How much do you know?" asked Yusei quietly.

Kaiba shrugged. "Not much. Your sister said that she'd tell me a bit more once she got here."

"Sayomi? Why'd she promise you that?"

"Not really something I want to get into."

"So you bribed her?"

"Not really, no."

"What was it?"

"Fiber-optic cables."

"I knew it," he said grinning. Kaiba just glared.

The door opened then, and Sayomi ran in. "Is he okay?" she asked, pointing at Yami, who was still sleeping in Kaiba's arms.

"I gave him the usual medicine," Yusei said, standing up. "Now that you're here, we can take him downstairs and get his other wounds treated."

"Kaiba will help too!" she said. Kaiba just nodded. If it would give him more information on Yami, why not do it?

"Okay then. Kaiba, pick him up and follow me. Sister, you go get more of Jack's medical supplies."

"And you, brother?"

"I'll go shut my equipment off so Yami won't be disturbed. The noise down there is dreadful!" With that, the twins ran off, leaving Kaiba alone in the room for a bit.

He shifted Yami in his arms so the smaller boy's head rested in the crook of his neck. As a result, he got some of Yami's hair in his face. But Kaiba didn't mind. Yami smelled like cinnamon and exotic spices, but they were masked by a musky smell and the smell of fresh blood.

"Seto!" Sayomi called out. Kaiba turned his head to where she stood waiting in the doorway. "Let's go." She led the way through the door Yusei had gone through and went downstairs.

The mechanics shop was concrete from floor to ceiling, with shelves and work benches along the walls. A red motorcycle sat in the middle of the room.

"Place him there," Yusei said, pointing to a bench with a few pillows. Kaiba went over and placed Yami on it, who sighed at the contact with the cool bench.

"Okay, Seto. We need to see the total damage." Sayomi explained. "To do that, his shirt has gotta go."

Kaiba gulped, but nodded. Together, he and Sayomi carefully tore the tight shirt away from Yami's body. Kaiba covered his mouth with his hand to keep himself from gasping out loud. He didn't know that a person's body could become this mauled! Yami's entire torso was covered in bruises that made his entire front black and blue instead of the bright tan it had once been, multiple cuts, most of which were bleeding, and what looked like lacerations from a whip. There were what Kaiba thought were rope burns on his wrists and forearms.

"Oh my God…" Kaiba whispered.

"This is nothing," Yusei said, stepping up behind Kaiba. He handed his twin some bandages. "He's stumbled over here with far worse than that."

Kaiba stared in disbelieve at them, unable to imagine what "far worse" could mean. What did this to Yami? "You two better start explaining."

"We will," Sayomi said, tearing off some bandages to put on Yami's wrists. "But for right now, we need to treat Yami's wounds. Now both of you help me."

Within a few minutes, the small monarch was covered in bandages and sleeping peacefully on the couch. The other three now sat in the twins' living room.

"Alright Fudo, explain." Kaiba demanded. "What's wrong with him? Why is he covered in wounds like that?"

The twins looked at each other and nodded.

"Let's start from the beginning."

* * *

**(1) I wrote the first 7 pages of this in math class, so I thought it was only fitting. Stupid quadratic functions…**

**(2) The songs mentioned, in order, are:**

**What a Catch, Donnie- Fall Out Boy**

**The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows- Brand New**

**Sound the Bugle- Bryan Adams**

**Wake Me Up When September Ends- Green Day**

**Gomenasai- t.A.T.u**

**Dark Blue- Jack's Mannequin**

**Wrecking Ball- Lifehouse**

**Harder to Breathe- Maroon 5**

**Let Me Go Home- Michael Bubl****é**

**Mama- My Chemical Romance**

**Dead!- My Chemical Romance**

**Savin' Me- Nickelback**

**Somebody to Love- Queen**

**This Is How a Heart Breaks- Rob Thomas**

**The Last Night- Skillet**

**Pain- Three Days Grace**

**I wanted to put some Linkin Park songs in here, but I forgot. Sorry... **

* * *

**Part one is done! Will continue in part 2. This took 13 ½ notebook pages and 9 MSWord pages, making it one of the longest I've done EVER. R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Me: Part 2 is here! Hope you enjoy it as much as my friend ****maid-samaluv**** did! **

**Review responses-**

**Toxic Hathor****- (OMG She reviewed my story I'm so happy!) Thanks for reviewing and favorite-ing! I hope I answered all your questions and comments before, so if you have more feel free to ask. Oh, and don't call yourself retarded… cause you're not. You're amazing!**

**punkyglare09****- Here's the update you wanted. Enjoy!**

**Inopportune Opportunist****- I've pretty much read almost all of the Prideshipping stories on this sight, so I was looking for a new one too. So now I write!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist, GX, or 5D's.**

**CLAIMER: I do own the plot and my OC Sayomi.**

**WARNINGS: Graphic explanations, mentions of rape, and a depressed and emotionally-unstable Yami. Sorry…**

**DEDICATION: Story dedicated to ****Toxic Hathor****. Chapter 2 dedicated to ****punkyglare09****.**

* * *

**Chained Chapter 2**

* * *

"Let's start from the beginning."

Kaiba stared intently at them. 'Finally," he thought. 'I'll be getting some straight answers.'

"I met Yami for the first time when we were 5," Yusei said. "I literally ran into him while running back home. We became friends instantly."

"I met Yami a few days later. Yusei brought him home after he hurt his knee from tripping on the asphalt. He was so nice…" said Sayomi.

"This went on for 9 years, and when Yami was 14 and his younger brother Yugi was 11, there was an accident."

"What happened?" Kaiba asked.

Sayomi looked up, her eyes filled with sadness. "Their mother was killed in a hit-and-run."

"They were absent from school for the funeral." Yusei said. "I assume you remember that?"

Kaiba nodded, remembering the two weeks they were gone. "But the funeral itself didn't last the full two weeks, did it?"

"No, the funeral was only three days. It was the court hearing that took the rest of the time." Sayomi interjected.

"Court hearing?"

"For custody of Yami and Yugi," Yusei explained. "Their mother had a will, but she never finished it, with her being so young when she died. She left all of her money to Yami to be used to take care of his brother, but no one would let him touch him because he was too young."

"What about their father?"

"Their biological father lives in America. He wasn't able to come to the hearing due to the fact that he heard about Yami's mom's death two days after it happened. He pays child support, but that's all he can do." said Sayomi.

"At the hearing, Yami and Yugi's grandfather insisted that he take both of them, but Daisuke, their mom's new boyfriend, also insisted that he take them. It was eventually decided that Yami would go with Daisuke, and Yugi would go with their grandfather." said Yusei.

"And that's where it all went downhill," Sayomi said. She sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes.

"What did he do?" Kaiba asked, dreading the answer.

"The first thing," she said "was sell Yami's old house. Remember, this all happened in two weeks. He sold the house and moved to where they are now. Daisuke used all of the child support money their father Atem **(1)** sent Yami for drugs and alcohol. He started beating Yami whenever Yami did something Daisuke didn't like."

"He beat his own son?"

"Step-son," Yusei put in. "But yes, he did."

"But it didn't stop there. Daisuke got really drunk one night. He came home totally wasted and went straight to Yami's room. He slapped and hit him awake and… he…" Sayomi broke off and hung her head. Kaiba could only assume she was crying.

He stared. He couldn't figure out what about this made her so upset. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "He… he raped Yami?"

The twins visibly flinched at the word. Yusei's eyes clouded with memory and Sayomi now had fresh tears falling from her eyes.

"He somehow managed to walk over here afterwards," Sayomi said quietly. "I was the only one home because Yusei was still at work. I opened the door, he flung himself into my arms, and he told me everything. He was only 14!"

"She called me and I came straight home," Yusei put in. "He stayed overnight because he was afraid to go home, but Daisuke came the next morning to drag him back."

Sayomi lifted the corner of her shirt to show Kaiba a long scar that ran across her side **(A/n: Imagine the length of a regular #2 wooden pencil before it's sharpened. That's how long it is. It pretty much runs along the entire width of her side from stomach to back.) **"See this? I got it while trying to keep Daisuke away from Yami. He pulled out a knife and stabbed me." She pulled her shirt down.

"No normal knife makes a cut like that," Kaiba said.

"Does a butcher knife?"

"A butcher knife?"

"A meat cleaver, to be specific." Yusei put in.

"Why the hell would anybody carry something like that in their pocket?"

"Because," Yusei said "he wanted Yami back, even if it meant hurting him."

Kaiba sat back and thought hard. A 14-year-old boy who's life turned into a living hell within the span of two weeks! "Why didn't you just call the police?" he asked.

"Believe us, we wanted to," Yusei said.

"But Yami told us not to," Sayomi said, whipping her eyes.

"Well why not?"

"Because of Yugi." They said it at the same time, which almost made Kaiba laugh.

"His brother? Does he even know?"

"Daisuke keeps Yami in check by threatening to kill Yugi if Yami ever calls the police. He's threatened the two of us as well," Yusei sighed.

"So, all in all, he's going to continue to take this?" Kaiba said, slightly confused.

"Yes. I'll take whatever he throws at me to ensure that Yugi is safe. I won't stop until that bastard is dead."

Kaiba swung his head around. Yami stood there, leaning against the door frame.

"Y-Yami, we…" Sayomi started, but Yami raised a hand to cut her off.

"It's alright. I don't care if he know, but if Daisuke finds out it's only one more person on his hit-list." Yami trudged in and sat down next to Kaiba.

"How are your wounds?" Sayomi asked him, seeing him flinch as he got situated.

"I'll be sore for a few days, but they're healing."

"You should really take a few days off of school to heal. You could stay here," Yusei said, but Yami shook his head "no".

"Yami, that's ridiculous," Kaiba put in. "From what I've heard you shouldn't be able to stand, let alone walk around school. Stay here. If necessary, I'll make up an excuse for you."

"No! If I don't go and he finds out he'll-!"

"Yami, you have to calm down!" Sayomi leapt off the couch and grabbed his hand, squeezing it desperately. "Breathe, please, he's not here right now and while you're here he can't hurt you! Breathe for me, please!"

Yami inhaled deeply, held it for a second, then let it out. His head became heavy on his shoulders and his vision blurred. He leaned his head against Kaiba's shoulder, waiting for the dizzy spell to go away. "You feeling alright Yami?" he heard him ask.

"Yeah," he said weakly. "Just a bit dizzy." Another wave crashed over him, and he fell asleep on Kaiba's shoulder.

Kaiba sighed and pushed Yami's head off. He slowly lowered him down so his head rested on his lap. He heard Sayomi snicker at the sight. "Shut it, Fudo."

"Whatever," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Hey Kaiba…?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't by any chance have those cables with you, do you?"

* * *

Yami walked slowly back home, not wanting to disturb the injuries that his friends had so nicely bandaged up. He still couldn't believe that Kaiba, Seto freaking Kaiba!, had been helping him out. He had argued against Yami going home so quickly, but he didn't understand. Yusei and Sayomi understood him, but even they were powerless against his step-father.

The house came within Yami's sights and he cringed, wanting so badly to run back to where he was before and throw himself into his friends' arms. But he knew that if he was gone any longer Daisuke would get mad, thereby increasing the time he spent punishing Yami tenfold. Or worse; Yugi would be in even more danger than he was already. And Yami couldn't let that happen.

Yami hated this house. It may have looked nice on the outside, but the inside was hell on Earth. What used to be a living room was now simply a box full of garbage. Yami didn't want to know what was all in there. In fact, his bedroom seemed to be the only place that Daisuke didn't touch.

Yami fumbled with the doorknob and pushed the front door open, breathing a quick sight of relief. He didn't see Daisuke's car parked outside, so the silence that greeted him proved the fact that Daisuke was either out drinking or out with those weird friends of his. He climbed the stairs to his room, locking his bedroom door behind him.

'An hour…' he thought. 'Two hours… three hours tops. He won't be gone for long.' He collapsed on top of his bed, trying to ignore the stab of pain that went through is arms. "Damn it…" he whispered before he fell asleep

* * *

"_So you finally decided to come home, huh?"_

"_Wha…?"_

"_Don't play dumb, kid! You've been hanging out with those weird kids again haven't you?"_

"_Why do you care who I hang out with?"_

_SLAP_

"_Don't talk back!"_

"_Ahh! No, leave me alone!"_

* * *

Kaiba knew the moment he walked into school that something had happed to Yami after he left Yusei's house. He couldn't explain how he knew though; but it's not that anyone would ask. He caught a glimpse of Yami earlier in the morning, but he didn't see anything. So he eagerly awaited Chemistry that day.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the hour, and Kaiba almost rant o the chemistry labs. The room was empty when he arrived, but he knew that Yami would be coming in any minute. He chose a seat at the back of the room, pulled out a book, and waited. Sure enough, Yami entered the room not a minute later. He smiled weakly at Kaiba, but the dark rings under his eyes told a different story. "Hey," he said. "Can I sit by the window?" Kaiba nodded and stood up, moving to the seat next to it. Yami sat down slowly.

"What were you reading?" he asked Kaiba.

Kaiba passed the book to him. It's read cover read, in gold letters, "Sunrise". **(2)**

"What's it about?" Yami asked.

Kaiba tried to hide his embarrassment as he said "You… wouldn't understand. It's not the first book in the series."

"Do you have the first book?"

"Not with me, but yes, I have it."

Yami was about to ask if Kaiba could bring it tomorrow, but just then a flood of students entered the room as the bell rang. The teacher followed suit. Class that day consisted of sitting around and watching the teacher show them things that he placed under a microscope. Just before the bell rang, the teacher said "Okay class, I'll let you chose your partner for tomorrow's assignment. You and your partner will select 3 small items to be viewed under the microscope tomorrow. Chose now."

Yami turned to look at Kaiba, who also turned to look at Yami. Kaiba nodded his head. "Sure, we can be partners. You can come over to my house after school to look for a few things."

Yami smiled weakly. "Thanks, Kaiba," he said. "but I'll need to stop at home first."

"What for?"

He looked away and said "I need to tell my dad I won't be home right away."

"So just call him. You can use my cell phone if you need to."

"A-alright," Yami said hesitantly. Kaiba pulled out his phone and gave it to Yami. The bell rang, signaling the end of the day, so it didn't matter if they were caught. Even the teacher had left the room. Yami flipped the phone open and punched in his number. Pressing the phone to his ear, he waited.

Yami held his breath as he heard it ring, but he let it out gratefully when he got their answering machine. After it beeped, he said "H-hey Dad, it's me, Yami. If you get this message and I'm not home it's because I'm at someone's house. We have an assignment in class that we need to work on, so I won't be back 'till later. It shouldn't take more than a few hours. I'll be home as soon as I can. Bye." With that, he hung up and gave the phone back.

"Now that wasn't so hard," said Kaiba.

Yami punched him lightly on the arm. "Oh, shut up."

* * *

"This is your house?"

Kaiba glanced over his shoulder and stared at Yami, who's eyes were fixed intently on the large mansion in front of him. "Yes, this is my house," he said. "When you're the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, you generally have a lot of money to spend of stuff like this."

"No need to be rude." Yami pouted and brushed past him towards the house. Kaiba followed and opened the large mahogany doors. He hung his jacket on a hook and led Yami inside. The entire house was quiet.

Until a black blur ran out of nowhere and attached himself to Kaiba.

"Seto!" he said happily. "You're home."

"Yes, Mokuba, I'm home. Now would you mind letting go of me? I'm starting to run out of air."

Mokuba pouted and let go. He was about to say something back when he saw Yami standing a few feet away, giggling. "Who's this Seto?" he asked.

"Mokuba, this is Yami, a friend from school. Yami, this is my sugar-high little brother, Mokuba." Kaiba said.

"Hey, no fair! I'll have you know that I haven't had any sugar all day! Just for that, I'm gonna go have some now!" He quickly ran off to what Yami guessed was the kitchen.

Kaiba glanced at Yami. "You're smiling," he said.

Yami said, "It's just been a while since I've seen my brother, Yugi, and had him hug me like that. I'm a little jealous."

"Don't be," Kaiba said forcefully. "Mokuba's constantly on a sugar high so he's all over the place. I don't know how he doesn't just pass out from exhaustion."

Mokuba's laugh came from the kitchen and mingled with Yami's as the older two boys climbed the stairs.

Kaiba led Yami towards his office, which he thought would have enough small stuff to look at. "Did you have anything particular you wanted to look for?" he asked.

Yami nodded, reaching into his bag. "I brought a kneaded eraser with me. If you pull it apart just right, you can get the small fibers show." He slowly pulled the grey eraser apart to show him. Kaiba nodded in agreement.

"I was going to pick the graphite shavings from a pencil," Kaiba said.

"Okay, but what about…"

The two sat and talked about the project for an hour. It wasn't until a thought crossed Yami's mind that they stopped. "Hey, remember that book you were reading before class today?"

Seeing the point he was getting to, Kaiba stood up and walked over to the enormous floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in the room and pulled a book off. He handed it to Yami. Kaiba's face reddened as Yami giggled as he looked at the cover.

"Yugi tried to get me to read these!" he exclaimed. "Back when he was seven and I was ten he used to pester me to read them."

"Did you?"

"No, I never did. I'm thinking I should, though."

"They're good books, really," Kaiba said. "They're time wasters if nothing else. The writers are really good as well."

"Who would've thought that Seto Kaiba, the CEO of multi-million dollar organization KaibaCorp, likes to read books about fighting cats." Yami laughed and practically rolled around on the floor. When his back hit softly against the side of the couch, however, he immediately stopped laughing and gasped in pain.

"Yami?" Kaiba said, seeing Yami's pained expression. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing. I just- Ah!" Yami gasped and reached behind him to grip his back.

"Yami, something is not right!" Kaiba knelt down beside him and tried to pull Yami's hand off. "You have to let me see what's wrong!"

"No!" Yami said through clenched teeth. "You can't!"

'The hell I can't!' he thought. He gripped Yami's wrist tightly and pulled it off. He was vaguely aware of the smaller boy screaming at him not to look, but the sight of the hot, red liquid that covered Yami's pale hand made the breath catch in his throat. "Blood…"

Yami held back both the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes and the pain-filled moans. But he couldn't do it for long, and soon his face was wet with tears. His crimson colored eyes opened a bit when he felt warm hands brush the tears off.

"Don't cry," Kaiba said. "I'll take care of this." He picked the small and surprisingly light boy up, being careful not to disturb whatever injuries he had on his back, and took him into the nearby bathroom. He set Yami down in the bath tub and pulled his jacket and shirt off. He felt the bitter bile rise in his throat, but he forced it back down.

Yami's back was covered in deep, fresh lacerations. Most had begun to scar and close up, but a select few (ten, Kaiba counted) had reopened and now let Yami's life-blood flow freely down his back. 'These weren't there a few days ago when we looked at him,' he thought. Grabbing a rag and wetting it in the sink, he moved to place it on Yami's back, but he froze. "Yami, this might sting a bit," Kaiba said. Yami just nodded. Slowly, Kaiba placed the rag on the wounds, and Yami screamed and arched his back.

"Ahh, no! Take it off!" he yelled desperately. "Please, it hurts!" A few sobs escaped his throat and fresh new tears rand down his beautiful face.

Kaiba didn't remove it. He kept the cool rag lightly pressed on Yami's back and took hold on his hand, rubbing small circles with his thumb and squeezing reassuringly. He waited until Yami's screams had died down to soft whimpers and his hand went lax his Kaiba's own before removing the wet rag slightly and pressing it back down, a little farther up his back than before. Yami flinched and whimpered, but stayed silent as Kaiba repeated the act multiple times. "Why is he doing this to you Yami?" he asked.

"I don't know…" he said sadly. Thinking it to be wise to drop the conversation all together, Kaiba stood up, removing his hand from Yami's, and picked up the bandages from the counter. After wrapping up Yami's petit body, he lifted him out of the tub and led him into Kaiba's bedroom. He placed him on the bed and pulled up the blankets, whispering "Sleep now" into Yami's ear. Yami nodded slowly and closed his eyes. He fell into a deep sleep almost instantly. Kaiba prayed that he wouldn't wake up in a few hours because of nightmares.

After that, he picked up his cell phone and called Yusei.

* * *

**1) I had to! :D**

**2) "Sunrise" is the 6****th**** book in the ****Warriors**** series for Part 3- "Power of Three". It's book 18 overall. The series is still going, so I recommend reading them! They're one of my favorites.**

**Next chapter will be a bit more Yami-centric, so Kaiba won't be around much. Haha!**

**Seto: … ... ... ... *flips me off***


	3. Chapter 3

****

I'm baaack! You miss me?

**Hey, I have a good excuse for not updating!**

**I shattered my computer screen a few weeks ago! :D And I only just got it back on Friday.**

**So due to that, I have stories that are ready to be updated that were put on hold.**

**Enjoy part 3 of Chained!**

**WARNINGS: Mentions of non-con, mild graphic imaging, and suggestive words.**

**DISCLAIMER: It's pretty standard now. You know that it's not mine.**

**DEDICATIONS: Story dedication to lovely ****Toxic Hathor****. Chapter dedication is pretty long – one, to ****the people of Egypt****. Congrats, you've won your long and hard battle. I admire your strength and courage. Two, to ****the people of Libya****. You're going through a hard time but you continue to stand up for what you think is right and fight for what you believe in. And three, to ****all of those who've died in these countries****. Your sacrifice will not have been in vain. Rest in peace.**

* * *

**Chained Chapter 3**

* * *

"Yeah, it should be about two days… he knows that he's over here, but he doesn't know… no, I'll be okay by myself…"

Yami squirmed under the multitude of blankets. It was bad enough that his wounds had reopened, but to have Kaiba mothering over him just made him embarrassed. And now Yusei knew everything. Yami didn't know why Kaiba was helping him so much. After all, up until this point they had totally ignored each other.

Right now, Yami was scarred. He didn't think that his dad would be very happy with him once he came home. How long did Kaiba say to Yusei? Two days? Yami cringed. It was back to the basement cellar for him, he knew it.

Then a though struck him. Why was he worrying about that now? At the moment he was safe and warm, his wounds were healing again, and he was with a friend.

He was still bored though.

Yami pulled his arm out from under the covers and reached over to the nightstand, where Kaiba had placed his cell phone. He flipped through his contacts for someone to call. He didn't want to disturb Kaiba, who still thought he was asleep, and Yusei and Sayomi would bombard him with questions. He paused when he came across Jaden Yuki's number. Not a bad idea. He pressed call and waited for him to pick up.

"_Yami, dude, what's up?" _Jaden said when he answered. _"I haven't heard from you in a while."_

"True," Yami said. "I've been better, but how are you?"

"_I'm fine, but what do you mean by that? Is it your jackass of a dad?" _Jaden leaned about Yami's dad a few years ago.

"You could say that."

"_What's it this time?"_

"Look, I'm feeling like crap right now, can we not talk about this?"

"_Oh, sure. So where are you right now? Yusei's?"_

"You're not gonna believe it Kuriboh, but I'm at Seto Kaiba's house," Yami told him.

"_My hair looks nothing like a- wait, did you say Seto Kaiba?" _Jaden sounded shocked.

Yami almost laughed. He knew that he would get this reaction from Jaden (and no matter what he said, Jaden's hair _did _look like a Kuriboh). "Yes Jaden. Kaiba and I pared up for a Chemistry project and we went back to his house. A couple of my wounds reopened so he treated me."

"_Kind of a weird idea for a date, Yami."_

Even though Jaden couldn't see it, Yami was glaring so hard it could've broken a glass. "This is not a date, Kuriboh," he hissed.

Jaden laughed on the other end of the phone. _"Whatever you say Yami. I gotta go. I'm preparing a little 'surprise' for Syrus."_

Yami cringed, not wanting to know what Jaden had in store for his poor boyfriend. "Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"_See ya." _And with that, both of them hung up. Yami placed his phone back on the nightstand in case Kaiba came in. Which, 30 seconds later, he did.

Yami just layed there as Kaiba opened the door. "Are you awake?" he heard him say. Yami shifted under the covers so that Kaiba could see his eyes. "How do you feel?"

"Like I just had a meeting with Anubis in the Underworld and he wasn't happy with me." Yami sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"In other words, you feel like crap."

"_No_… how'd you get that idea?" Yami said sarcastically. Kaiba flicked his forehead.

"Don't start with me. You don't want those wounds reopening again."

Yami froze. Should he really stay here? He knew it would be safe, but for how long? He weighed his options and one seemed to stand out above the rest. "Thanks for everything Kaiba," he said. "But I really need to go." He pushed himself a little higher up and swung is legs over the side of the bed. He took his time getting up so he wouldn't get dizzy.

"Go? I don't think you're going anywhere," Kaiba disagreed.

'Look, I'm grateful, but you've done enough already. I'm not going to allow another person to become a target. You… don't know what he's capable of." Yami tried to reason with Kaiba, who wasn't buying it.

"I'm not letting you leave here," he insisted.

"And you think you can stop me?"

"I can and I will."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a promise."

"Look Seto, something tells me that you don't like seeing me hurt. If I stay any longer, I'm going to be in for it when I finally get there. Let me go home, and I can tell you with certainty that I'm won't come to school with as terrible wounds." Ignoring the fact that he just called him "Seto", Yami's crimson eyes locked contact with Kaiba's sapphire ones. Neither wanted to blink; they were lost in each other's eyes.

"Fine," Kaiba said at last. "But at least let me drive you there this time." The look on his face told Yami that he wasn't in the mood to argue anymore. In other words, it was a "you're-coming-with-me-no-questions-asked" kind of look. Yami nodded. Gathering up his school stuff, Yami couldn't help but cringe in fear at the thought of Kaiba seeing his house. This wasn't going to be good.

* * *

"All I'm saying is, would it kill you to drive in a less-conspicuous car? I mean, this thing isn't even on the market in Europe yet."

Yami could tell that Kaiba was trying hard not to laugh at him. The car they were driving in was a silver Porsche that was probably so new the prototype hadn't even been introduced yet. It handled smoothly, and they easily made it through traffic and onto Yami's street.

"It's one of the perks of being filthy rich," Kaiba said. "We can have fancy cars and rub them in each other's faces." He turned the wheel and parked on the side of the road. "We're here."

Yami grabbed his backpack and opened the car door, noticing not only Daisuke's car but 3 other cars parked in the driveway as well. 'Company… drinking buddies… I'm screwed,' Yami thought. He glanced back at Kaiba. "I'd invite you in but it looks like there's company over."

"I understand. I'll see you at school." Yami nodded and waved as Kaiba drove away. He sighed and walked up to the front door.

It was unlocked, which was normal when Daisuke was home. Yami opened it silently and only enough for him to squeeze through before shutting it without a sound. He could hear the clinking of bottles and sick laughter coming from the kitchen. He climbed the stairs, making sure to skip the stair that creaked when he stepped on it. Yami tip toed into his room and locked the door with a silent click.

Yami's POV

I breathed a sigh of relief and backed away from the door. This room was my only sanctuary from him. It was a place that kept me calm and alert while at the same time offering me plenty to do. I walked over and picked up my caustic guitar from its spot on the wall. I love music more than anything, and I play a wide variety of instruments as well as singing. I've been told I'm good at it and I've even recorded a few CD's with Jaden and Jack Atlas's help. In middle school I was even called the "Music Man". That still makes me smile.

I strummed the guitar quietly, not wanting the drunkards downstairs to hear me and know that I was home. I flicked my wrist, letting my fingers pull slightly on the strings and it made soft, beautiful noises.

"_Ohhhh… you set my soul alight…" _I sang quietly. That was one of my favorite songs. It was the first song I learned to play on all my instruments and the first song I recorded with Jaden. Muse's _Supermassive Black Hole_.

"_Glaciers melting in the dead of night_

_and the superstar's sucked into the supermassive…"_

I better stop now. I can hear the demon's downstairs getting louder. Did they hear me? Couldn't have; my room isn't above the kitchen and it's well away from the stairs. Still, as I put the guitar back on the wall, I could've sworn that I heard the sound of that squeaky step on the stairs. Oh Ra, I'm becoming more paranoid by the second! Am I really that afraid of him? My brain and body scream yes. I'm afraid…

Something loud banged on my door. I jumped in fright. How did they know I was home? I was quiet enough, wasn't I?

"We know you're in there, Yami." The voice was so slurred (I blame the alcohol) I couldn't really understand what he was saying, so I had to interpret it. "Why not come out and play with us?" Okay, now I was legitly frightened.

"What do you want with me?" I asked quietly.

"Come on Yami. We know how much you like to play games, so why not play with us? We have a fun little game planned." There was laughter, sick drunken laughter, from the other side of the door. How many friends did he have over? But even I know that if I don't go out there things will be worse for me later on. I promised Kaiba that I'd return with as little injuries as possible. I took a deep breath and unlocked the door. It was immediately thrown open and I was pulled into the hallway. Two large men held my arms and another had his arms around my waist. It was sickening how gentle they were being with me. Like I was a porcelain doll that would fall apart if handled roughly.

"This will be a fun little game, Yami," Daisuke slurred. "It will be enjoyable. At least, for the seven of us." He and the others laughed, and I could smell massive amounts of booze on their breath. Daisuke and his buddies were never right in the head, but his amount of alcohol… not only did it have to be incredibly far over the legal limit, it had to be at least enough beer to fill three of those two-liter pop bottles we teenagers use to keep us up all night. **(A/n: You know that we do. Don't try to deny it.) **And I'm not talking about the total. I'm talking 6 liters of beer each. How was it possible to drink that much and not be unconscious? Or dead?

The grip on my arms tightened a bit; not enough to hurt but enough to keep me in place. What did they want, exactly? It's too late now to try to run. All that's left is to wait and see what this guys' twisted idea of a game is.

Daisuke grinned and stepped back, letting another man stand in front of me. He had something in his hand, which had me worried. He smiled, his booze breath spilling out, making me hold my breath. I swear I myself could become intoxicated just by breathing in their rancid breath. The other guy lifted my chin up to meet his eyes and tried to force my couth open. Naturally, I locked my teeth together and wouldn't let him get his way. He didn't like that, so he raised his free hand and brought a fist down on top of my head. Hard enough so it really _really_ hurt. I gasped, involuntarily, and he forced something hard (and by the taste of it, metal) into my mouth before fastening it around my head. My eyes widened. A ball gag! Shit! I know where this is going! I shook my head and struggled against the three me that held me, but I couldn't get free.

Daisuke laughed at me. "Let the games begin."

* * *

Normal POV

Yami crawled into bed, sore and exhausted after hours upon hours of torture. Even his warm shower felt like needles against the raw parts of his skin. He had been raped, whipped, poked with a hot iron, and he was sure something had been carved into his back with a hot knife. He could still feel the pain of the blade digging into his back and carving some sort of kanji into it. It would scar and most likely never heal over. Thankfully Yami could reach around himself to bandage his wounds. He lay in bed thinking to himself how he looked like a mummy. The wounds were bad, but he knew he had to go to school the next day or his friends would be worried about him. Slowly he drifted off to sleep.

_~Yami's dream~_

_Yami found himself running through an entirely white space. But here he wasn't running in fear. Here he felt free and as light as air, almost as if he could run forever. Here there was no pain and suffering, and Yami could not feel his wounds. He wore a light, white dress that flowed around him like a cloud, soft and feathery. This could only be a dream._

_Yami slowed in his running, noticing some black shapes up ahead of him. He smiled and continued towards them. The silhouettes were shaped like his friends: Yusei and Sayomi, Jaden, Yugi, even Kaiba. The shadow people extended their arms towards him. Yami held out his own arms as he ran closer and closer. But when he reached them, the figures bled out into dark puddles that changed the pure white space into pitch black. Yami spun around, afraid of what was happening._

_A few wisps of shadow wrapped around his torso and pulled him against something hard. Yami gasped at the impact, the breath leaving his body all at once. The tendrils of shadows felt like arms around him, but they were cold as ice. It was as if they were trying to be comforting and possessive, but to Yami they were torturously frightening and holding on tight enough to crush him. He pulled at the shadow arms and shivered as the shadows crept up his legs and under the white dress he still wore._

"_You can't escape me Yami…" a voice whispered in his ear. "And I'll kill anyone who gets in my way of you… Remember that…"_

_A faint outline of his step-father's face appeared before his eyes, a wicked grin of white teeth staring him down. "You… are… mine…"_

_Yami screamed as the shadows fully engulfed him and pulled him into darkness._

**(A/n: It's over, but holy hell I scarred myself writing that!)**

Yami screamed and bolted upright. The events of his nightmare still replayed in his mind as he tried to catch his breath. Tears streamed down his face, but he didn't notice, nor did he make any attempt to stop them. He wrapped his arms around himself as he shook with fear.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, letting himself fully recover and awake from his nightmare. Finally he let go of his arms and rubbed his eyes. It wasn't the first time he had had nightmares, but this was the most vivid one yet. Glancing at his clock, he reached over and turned the alarm off. No sense leaving it on now that he was awake. 5:15 AM and now it was time to get ready for school.

Walking into the bathroom, Yami pulled off his pajama shirt to examine his injuries. There were a few cuts and bruises on his chest and arms, and multiple new lacerations on his back and sides. Yami applied some healing gel to them, hissing at the sting, and wrapped fresh gauze around himself. The gauze completely covered his torso, hiding his new wounds from view. Yami shrugged as he ran a brush through his hair. It would work for now, and probably diminish his friends' suspicions. For a while at least. All that was left was to see what happened at school today.

* * *

Yami got to school and passed through his first three classes rather uneventfully. Sure, he ran into Yusei and Sayomi, but even they couldn't tell that something was wrong. He smiled and got through his morning as if nothing had happened last night.

Today was Wednesday, which was Yami's favorite day of the week. Because Wednesday meant Free Period, a full hour and a half where the students could go wherever they wanted. As soon as the bell chimed, Yami ran to the music rooms. Most everyone thought that the music rooms were locked during Free Period, and they were right. Yami was one of three people who had keys to the music room and were allowed to use it. Every Wednesday, Yami would meet one of or both of those other kids there. Those other kids? Jaden Yuki and Jack Atlas.

Yami put the key in the lock and opened the door. Domino's High School had a huge music program and a huge music room to match. Any instrument you could think of was in this room. Yami, being the music otaku that he was, couldn't help but smile every time he came into this room. He almost didn't notice Jack and Jaden walking into the room behind him.

"Hey Spiky!" Jaden said

Yami turned and smiled at them. "Hey Kuriboh, hey Blondie." Teasing each other because of their hair was practically a tradition. It had to be done every time they saw each other. That, and it was a good laugh.

"I'm going to ignore that comment," Jaden said. "You ready?"

Yami nodded. Today was recording day, where the three of them used the school's recording studio to record the voices and match them with the music they had already recorded. Today was the last day of their current song project, this time Yami singing, and they were finishing the last few recordings before burning a few CD's. The door to the studio closed behind them, and before long the recording light came on, signaling that they had begun.

* * *

Seto Kaiba walked about the school halls with nothing to do. He had spent some time in the English room finishing the short story he had to write. But now he had nothing to keep him busy and nowhere to go. He wandered around, listening to people chatting on the other side of the classroom doors. Eventually Kaiba reached his unplanned destination: the music rooms. He knew it was useless to open them because they'd be locked, but for his amusement he pulled on the handle.

And to his amazement, it opened. Lo and behold.

Surprised, he pushed the door open and went inside. It was empty, but then Kaiba saw three backpacks on the floor and the light that signaled that someone was in the recording studio was on. Intrigued, Kaiba leaned back against the wall and waited.

A few minutes went by before the light turned off. And another minute before the door opened. Kaiba recognized Jack Atlas, heir to a local company that made and sold surgical tools. Jack himself was going to be a doctor, and according to Yusei, he could work wonders with his hands. **(A/n: That's what she said.)**

"Kaiba?" Jack said, shutting the door behind him. "What are you doing in here?"

"I was walking around when I stopped here and noticed the door was unlocked. What about you?"

Jack glanced over his shoulder, then beckoned for Kaiba to join him as he moved away from the door to the studio. When they were on the other side of the room, Jack said "I was recording with Jaden and Yami."

"Yami's in there?"

"Yeah. Kid's one hell of a singer."

"I didn't know."

Jack looked at him like he was crazy. "You didn't know?" He reached into the paper bag Kaiba only just noticed he was holding and pulled out four CD cases. "I'm surprised. He was at your house yesterday and he didn't tell you?" Seeing the confusion on Kaiba's face, he added "Yami called Jaden and told him, and Jaden told me."

"No, he never said anything." Kaiba looked at the CD's Jack had handed him. Their covers read "2010 Hits", "Serenade", "Solid Rock", and "Alternative Mix".**(1)**

"They, the names I mean, were all Yami's idea. In fact, recording them was Yami's idea. He's done most of the work on these." Jack smiled. "That kid's a perfectionist; never satisfied. All of the music was played and recorded by him in this very room, over a period of months. You're lucky, we just finished the "2010 Hits" album today. You'll be the first to hear it."

Kaiba nodded and stuck the CD's into his backpack. He'd listen to them when he got home.

* * *

Sitting in his office after school that same day, Kaiba pulled out his portable CD player and popped on in. He picked "2010 Hits" first because of the song choices. Like:

_End of Me (Apocalyptica ft. Gavin Rossdale)  
__Defying Gravity (Glee Cast)  
__Toxic (Glee Cast)  
__If It Means a Lot To You (A Day to Remember)  
__Rock and Roll (Eric Hutchinson)  
__Help Is On The Way (Rise Against)  
Jar of Hearts (Cristina Perri)  
__Without Me (Eminem)_

But the one that really caught his attention was _When They Come For Me (Linkin Park)_. It was a song that Kaiba was very familiar with and one that he liked a lot, but he knew for a fact that it wasn't an easy song to even _attempt_ to play. Jack's words echoed in his head: _"That kid's a perfectionist; never satisfied. All of the music was played and recorded by him, in this very room…" _Kaiba skipped to that song and pressed play.

**(A/n: At this point, I highly recommend listening to the song while reading. You'll understand what I'm talking about when I say that it isn't easy to play.)**

For a second, Kaiba thought he was listening to the song straight off of Linkin Park's _A Thousand Suns _album. It sounded almost exactly like the real thing! Every beat, every tone of the synthesizer, was perfect. Then Kaiba heard Yami's voice.

_I am not a pattern to be followed  
The pill that I'm on is a tough one to swallow  
I'm not a criminal, not a role model  
Not a born leader, I'm a tough act to follow_

_I am not the fortune and the fame _

_or the same person telling you to forfeit the game  
I came in the ring like a dog on a chain _

_and then found out the underbelly sicker than it seems_

_And it seems ugly but it can get worse  
'cause even a blueprint is a gift and a curse  
'cause once you got a theory of how the thing works  
Everybody wants the next thing to be just like the first_

_And I'm not a robot, I'm not a monkey  
I will not dance even if the beat is funky  
Opposite of lazy, far from a punk _

_Ya'll oughta stop talking, start trying to catch up mother fucker_

_And all the people say_

_Ahhh~~~~_

_Ahhh~~~~~  
(Try to catch up mother fucker)_

_Ahhh~~~~_

_Ahhh~~~~~_

Lauryn said money change the situation  
Big said it increase the complication  
Kane said don't step, I ain't the one  
Chuck said an Uzi weighs a mother fucking ton

_And I'm just a student of the game that they taught me  
Rocking every stage and every place that they brought me  
I'm awfully underrated but came here to correct it  
And so it ain't mistaken, I'mma say it for the record_

_I am the opposite of wack, opposite of weak  
Opposite of slack, synonym of heat, synonym of crack  
Closest to a beat, far from a punk  
Ya'll oughta stop talking, start trying to catch up mother fucker_

And all the people say

_Ahhh~~~~_

_Ahhh~~~~~  
(Try to catch up mother fucker)_

_Ahhh~~~~_

_Ahhh~~~~~_

Oh, when they come for me  
Come for me  
I'll be gone

_Oh, when they come for me  
Come for me  
I'll be gone_

_Oh, when they come for me  
Come for me  
I'll be gone_

And all the people say

_Ahhh~~~~_

_Ahhh~~~~~  
(Try to catch up mother fucker)_

_Ahhh~~~~_

_Ahhh~~~~~_

Kaiba sat back in his chair, stunned. He was completely lost in thought; he didn't even notice when the next song (1, 2, 3, 4 by the Plain White T's, sung by Jack) came on. Yami was an excellent singer. He had a perfect voice and could hold a note as long as he wanted. Why hadn't he mentioned that he could sing before?

"He's got talent," he said aloud. "Talent that's hard to find these days. So why doesn't he embrace it?"

* * *

**(1) Why "2010 Hits"? Because of two reasons: one - I started writing this in 2010 so why not? and 2 - Most of the songs I listed were ones I started listening to in 2010 (with a few exceptions).**

**Damn, this got long… I mean, does 10 pages seem long to anybody but me?**

**I'm on an updating spree today, so look out for more for other stories as well!**

**Thanks for waiting, and I'll see you in Chapter 4!**


	4. Chapter 4

**It's late. It's short. I wanna cry. I'm ashamed that I took so long in writing this. Pity me my friends.**

**Hathor-san, I know you took all your stories off (I'm depressed by it, but I'll deal) but I hope you continue to read this, as I spent a lot of time on it and it would be a shame for it to go to waste.**

**This is a (late) birthday present to me. Happy 15 years!**

**So without further ado, let's get the show on the road!**

**Warnings: Nothing much. At all, actually. Two sexy bishi men kissing each other, though.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Son of a…**

**Claimer: I own what's mine. If you forgot, look at the previous three chapters.**

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**Chained – Chapter 4**

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By dinner time that same day, Kaiba had listened to all four of the CDs, and he wasn't disappointed. Yami's vocal talent shone the brightest among the three singers. His silky smooth voice captivated and drew the listener in to hear more. The songs he sang all had a deep meaning that made you stop and think about what was being said. Kaiba admitted to himself: he was entranced by the music.

Judging by by what he had, Kaiba could tell that the music was Yami's absolute passion. He was as dedicated to it as Kaiba was to running his business, and that's saying something.

"_Being so passionate about something is a talent in itself." _Mokuba said that to him once after Kaiba easily handled a computer virus that spread through the entire KaibaCorp system. Kaiba, at the time, merely thought that Mokuba was quoting one of the manga's he liked to read. Where, as it turns out, he really was quoting a manga; but Kaiba soon realized that his little brother was right. Those words certainly applied to this situation, and quite well too.

Could he confront Yami about this? With his connections, Kaiba could easily find a professional to record him. The CDs could then, maybe, be marketed and sold to the general public. It said on the inside of the CD booklets that the CDs weren't sold to anybody. There were copies that were given to close friends, but according to the booklet there was no profit made in the CDs. It was "just a hobby". Well, why not ask Yami if he was interested?

But it was dinner time now and Mokuba helped the chef make pancakes with chocolate chips. It could wait 'till tomorrow. 'What's the harm?'

* * *

Yami walked into the school building the next day with Yusei (Sayomi was home with a cold). Both twins had loved the CD he gave them, and now the two were discussing ideas for their next CD. Yami, thankfully, managed to go the entire night and all morning without getting hit by his step-dad and he was glad for it. But when things suddenly quieted down like this it usually means that he was planning something bit, and Yami was a bit scarred. The last time this happened he ended up spending two weeks of his summer vacation in a hot, wet basement next to the water heater with no food and muddy water. Yami still has nightmares of his time down there.

Yusei chatted away about music, but Yami wasn't really paying attention to him anymore. He had seen the big expensive car roll up and the stoic brown haired man step out. Kaiba either didn't notice him staring or pretended not to, but Yami couldn't pull his eyes away from him.

"Earth to Spiky! Are you in there?" Yusei was suddenly in his face and was knocing on his head with one had. Yami swatted him away. "You've been staring at him for a while now. Yes I noticed, no I don't care, but if you like him you should probably tell him so."

Yami wanted to argue, but he knew that Yusei was right. While Crab-Head ran off to go great and kiss his boyfriend, Yami waited in the doorway for Kaiba to catch up.

"You waited for me?" Kaiba asked when he got closer. "Aren't you sweet?" Yami hit his arm as hard as he could, but Kaiba didn't even flinch. "You're going to have to try a bit harder than that to hurt me."

"I wasn't trying to hurt you." Yami said. They walked into the building.

"I wanted you to know that I listened to those CDs. Your voice is incredible." Kaiba said as they made their way to their lockers.

"Thinks," Yami said absentmindedly. When the words caught up with him, he inhaled sharply and whipped his head around to face Kaiba, who hadn't noticed. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Kaiba looked at him out of the corners of his eyes. "The CDs you recorded. All four of them."

"How did you get those?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Jack gave them to me. Judging my your reaction, I take it he shouldn't have?"

"We don't give those to just anybody. Jack gives them to Yusei, Jaden to Syrus, and I to Sayomi. We make extras in case something happens, but we've never had to use them."

"Did you ever consider giving them to me, as a friend?"

"U-um…" Yami couldn't figure out what to say. One part of his brain wanted to just say "yes" while the other part wanted to say "yes, but not as just a friend". He was confused. _'You're thinking to hard about this!'_ he scolded himself. _'Just tell him what you think of him and get it over with. You never know; he might feel the same way.'_

'I doubt that.'

'_Give it a try. Like I said, you never know.'_

'How did you get so wise?'

'_Hell if I know. I'm nothing more that that little voice in the back of your head that you like to talk to because you don't have someone to talk to most of the time.'_

"Earth to Yami. Is the Mother Ship calling you back?"

Yami blinked, bushing Kaiba's waving hand away from his face. "Sorry, just thinking."

"That's fine, but do I get an answer?"

Yami took a deep breath. "You answer is yes…"

Kaiba was satisfied with that answer. He wasn't expecting anything more, but Yami continued, which surprised him.

"I just… didn't… you're… more than just a friend…" Yami mumbled. His face flushed a little bit and he looked away.

Kaiba stared. Was the abused, star-shaped hair kid… saying he liked him? The thought made his heart flutter. Ever since he saw the kid laying in his arms after he passed out due to being sick, he had felt himself falling in love with him. But for Yami to say it to him first… it was unexpected but warmly welcomed. Kaiba smiled a bit and patted Yami's shoulder. "You said it before I could Yami."

Yami looked up, his face still a little flushed. "Huh?

Kaiva mentally rolled his eyes. "I'm saying that I like you too, Yami. As more than just a friend."

Yami's mouth opened, but he found that he couldn't say anything without it coming out like some odd noise from the back of his throat. Any and all fears of being rejected were henceforth eliminated from his body and mind. He relaxed and smiled. "You mean it?"

Kaiba answered by pulling him into a hug, being careful not to put strain on any of Yami's possible wounds. He loved how Yami fit perfectly in his arms and against his body. He marbled in Yami's personal scent, a spicy, exotic scent with a hint of cinnamon, and enjoyed the feel of Yami's soft spiky hair as he ran his fingers through it. He could tell that Yami was overjoyed, seeing as how Yami eagerly returned his hug.

But it was over too soon, as the first bell started ringing and the kids began entering the halls to get to their classes. Kaiba pulled away, but not before whispering "Meet me in front of the school at the end of the day" into Yami's ear. Yami nodded, and the two separated to go to their classes.

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The final bell rang at last, and Yami practically ran to the main school entrance. He was beyond happy, but he was also cautious. His step-dad had left more than just physical scars on his body; he also left mental scars on his mind. Those kinds of scars would never heal, but Yami hoped that Kaiba could at least help cover them up and help him forget.

True to his word, Kaiba was waiting for him in front of his car, this time a less-conspicuous black Chevy Malibu. Yami ran up to him and was instantly brought into a hub. Yami loved how safe and warm he felt in Kaiba's – no, his boyfriend's – arms. "Ready to go?" Kaiba asked.

"Go where?"

"Why, on our first date, of course." Kaiba smiled down at him. He opened the passenger's side door and stood back to let Yami get in. Closing the door behind him, Kaiba got in the other side and drove off.

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Jack, Yusei, and Sayomi (who got better and came in late) sat under a nearby tree. They had witnessed the whole thing.

"If he hurts our Yami, I'm gonna kill him," said Yusei.

"Oh, leave him alone," Sayomi said, hitting him lightly on the arm. "Yami obviously looked like he was having a good time just being within touching distance of Kaiba. He's in love."

"I agree. He hasn't been that happy in a long while. It's been years since he's smiled like that," Jack put in.

"I saw that too. All I'm saying is that if he does anything to hurt Yami…" Yusei trailed off.

"He'll be fine, Yusei," Jack said.

"He's with our Kaiba, what could possibly happen?" Sayomi asked.

* * *

Exactly where are you taking me?" Yami asked as they got on the highway.

"Downtown Domino," Kaiba said. "We'll just have a day to do whatever we want." He looked at his new boyfriend out of the corner of his eyes, still concentrating on the road. "Of course, I'll let you pick where we go first."

"You're too kind," Yami said, feigning surprise and placing a hand over his heart. "Are you going to pay and carry my things, too?"

"I may not carry all of it, but I certainly am paying. No offence, but I don't' think that you could pay for this."

Yami shrugged. "No offence taken. I can't." He turned his head and stared out the car window, watching the city approach. He felt Kaiba lace their fingers together and he smiled.

They soon arrived in the shopping area of the city, where Kaiba parked the car outside of a small café. The two got out of the car and sat down at a table outside. Kaiba magically pulled a directory out of his jacket pocket.

"Did you have this planned?" Yami asked.

"I was going to come here anyways because I needed some new software for my computer. You coming along was an added bonus. But we can do that later."

The waiter arrived and asked for their orders. Kaiba ordered a small coffee and Yami got sweet tea.

"So where do you want to go first?" Kaiba asked, sliding the directory across the table. Yami paged through it, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Here!" he said enthusiastically, pushing the booklet back over to him and pointing to a spot on the page.

Kaiba looked it over. "A music store? Sure, that's fine." He took a pen out of his pocket and circled it. The two of them went back and forth suggesting places to go until the waiter came back with their drinks. They finished their drinks quickly and left to go to the music store.

Even when he was at a candy store with Mokuba, Kaiba had never seen a person so happy to go shopping before. Yami was off in his own little world as he browsed and pulled out multiple CDs. Kaiba's brain reminded him that this was probably the most fun Yami had had in a while. Yami's smile was genuine, large, and bright. True happiness; a ray of light in a time of darkness. Considering how terrible his life had been for the past few years… Yami deserved to smile like that.

* * *

By the end of the day, Yami had 9 CDs, and iPod, and a new computer (all of which were staying at Kaiba's house until the big mess with his step-dad blew over). Now the two of them were sitting on a park bench watching the fountain. Yami leaned his head against Kaiba's shoulder.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Sis-thirty," Kaiba said.

Yami frowned and cuddled closer to him. "I don't want to go him, he said quietly. Kaiba ran his hand across Yami's upper arm and shoulder. "I don't want this day to end."

"I know." Kaiba knew the torture began when Yami stepped through his front door. He didn't want Yami to leave either. "Say that you love me."

Yami smiled. He didn't say it. No, he said something better.

"_There's only 1 thing  
__2 do  
__Those 3 words  
__4 you  
__I love you_

_There's only 1 thing  
__2 say  
__Those 3 words  
__That's what I'll do  
__I love you."_

Both were silent for a bit before they burst out laughing. Yamis' eyes began to water he was laughing so hard and Kaiba was bent over trying to stop himself from laughing. The two eventually calmed down and Kaiba pulled a smiling Yami into a quick kiss. Yami happily kissed back.

"You make me smile," Kaiba said. He placed a few kisses on Yami's forehead. "I promise I'll help you get out of this mess."

Yami put his arms around his shoulders. "I believe you," he said. "But this will get ugly before it gets better."

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want me to come in?" Kaiba asked. The two had just pulled up to Yami's house.

"You shouldn't. I want you to, but if he's home you'll be in trouble. You don't need to see that." Yami told him. He leaned over and gave him one last kiss. "I'll see you at school."

"See you, love." Yami stepped out and Kaiba drove away.

Walking into his house, Yami didn't feel like anything was wrong. He as too happy; he felt like his mood could be spoiled by no one. He walked inside and closed the door with a soft click.

"Where 'ya been, Yami?" a slurred voice said.

Yami froze, a feeling of dread spreading through his veins. His obviously drunked step-father stumbled out of the kitchen, a half-finished bottle of beer in his hand. "D-dad…" Yami stuttered.

"Nah, don't' answer that. I know where 'ya was," he said. He pointed one finger at Yami accusingly, though his had was shaking. "I say 'ya… I say 'ya latched onta th' arm of some guy at the park… someone other than me…"

"Yami was frozen; his dad had seen him with Seto! That was it: it was over.

Yami just hoped he would live to see the next day.

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**Now that's what I call a cliffhanger! Don't worry, I'm not going to kill him.**

**Descriptive torture sounds good though. *hopeful look***

**Okay, so that's the end of that. See you next chapter!**


	5. NOTE

***dodges tomatoes* FUCK YOU ALL! *dodges ax* Okay okay okay okay okay! I get it already! I haven't updated this story in… *looks* Ah fahq… Almost a year. I'm sorry again.**

**The truth is, I've lost my drive for this story. I'm so sorry. It's not like I've lost interest in the pairing, but I've lost interest in the story. I can't think of a way to end it. I can't think of how I'm going to continue it. So I'm going to stop writing it.**

**However! All is not lost! I've decided to put "Chained" up for adoption! Meaning, someone who is a fan of this story can take it from me (with permission of course) and finish it however they want. That being said, you have to ask first. I won't stand for someone just stealing my story and reposting it. ASK. PERMISSION. FIRST. Are we clear?**

**Good.**

**So, again, I'm so sorry that I've been so dead for a while. I'll be back soon. **

**Thank you.**

**:)**


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